NASA | Driving A Lunar Spacecraft

Want to fly a spacecraft around the Moon? Take this video for a spin to see how NASA operates the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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[AngryKittens]

So you don't need Jebediah at all? **Jettisons crew**

[sergioD]

Imagine you are launching a mission on Kerbal Space Program, yes its pretty much like that

[jasonspringer]

I LOVE this video. Well produced, I learned a lot (about a complicated topic too), and it was funny! I wish more government video products were like this.... something us non-scientists can understand and enjoy watching. Well done NASA!!

[SuperLuckyLad]

I didn't know they were "Driven" and needed constant adjustment, I just thought that it went into orbit and went round and around. So for me it was a useful introduction to what is required.

[HorzaPanda]

I've played KSP, so that's what I was thinking. Much more computing in this though, less on the fly burns.

I thought reaction wheels worked on conservation of angular momentum, you spin the wheel so the rest of the craft has to spin in the opposite direction to balance that?

[RetroGamerVX]

Video obviously aimed at the Americans because this is so dumbed down, it's embarrissing!!

[PTNLemay]

Couldn't you have also used a second set of counter-rotating reaction wheels to unwind the momentum without using propellant?

[RufftaMan]

I've been wondering how a spacecraft's angular momentum can keep increasing over time, making a thruster correction necessary. Can anybody explain how this happens?

[GlenCychosz]

Is the detailed LRO map of the moon available on line?

[lineikatabs]

Momentum unloading Maneuver AKA YOUR MUM!

[ASTROTZUR]

the gyroscopic contribution to a bicycle's stability is negligible. a bad example to explain reaction wheels. a precessing spinning top is a better example but it's not simple. there is no simple example because sadly gyroscopes are very non-intuitive...

[ronettreker]

Normal NASA videos look like something posted by National Geographic. This one looks like something posted by MTV. Making knowledge more accesible by normal people is a good thing. But putting bad humour in your videos just to make it more entertaining is bad.